BA resumes Saudi flights

26 November 2008

After pulling services to Saudi Arabia in 2005 due to poor demand, British Airways is resuming flights to Jeddah and Riyadh from 29 March 2009.

The airline will fly five times each week from Heathrow T5 to both Jeddah and Riyadh. Flights to Riyadh will operate on a Boeing 777 and Jeddah flights will be on a Boeing 767. In June 2008, the UK and Saudi governments agreed to increase from 13 to 35 the maximum number of weekly flights that each country’s airlines can operate between the two states.

Robert Boyle, British Airways’ commercial director, said: “Resuming these flights makes commercial sense. The oil market is increasingly important globally and inward investment into Saudi Arabia has risen considerably in the last couple of years.

“We can start these flights now because the aviation market between Britain and Saudi Arabia has recently been liberalised.”

British Airways suspended services to Riyadh and Jeddah in March 2005 due to poor commercial performance on the route.